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Iran: Bolton Seeks Russian Support for U.S. Position at IAEA Meeting The United States wants Russia to acknowledge that Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons and to support the U.S. position during a meeting at the International Atomic Energy Agency next month, a senior U.S. State Department official said yesterday (see GSN, May 5). U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said he told top Russian officials during a recent meeting in Moscow about U.S. concerns with Iran’s nuclear efforts. He said he hoped the IAEA would find that Iran had violated its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and that Russia’s support for the U.S. position would help sway the agency into making such a determination. Recent statements by Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov appear to indicate that Russia is slowly coming around to the U.S. position, Bolton said (Judith Ingram, Associated Press/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 5). U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin “have already agreed that it is neither in Russia’s interest nor in America’s interest to have a nuclear weapons-capable Iran,” Bolton said. The reasons for Russia’s concern “should be obvious,” in part because Iran is also developing ballistic missiles and “here in Moscow we’re a lot closer to Iran than I am when I go back to Washington,” he said (David Holley, Los Angeles Times, May 6). Bolton’s trip to Moscow has been seen as preparation for a Bush-Putin summit scheduled for June 1 in St. Petersburg. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to travel to Moscow next week to further prepare for the meeting (Jonathan Wright, Reuters/Yahoo!News, May 6).
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